Pour spouts are commonly comprised of a cylindrical body member and a protruding member or spout. Pour spouts may be flanged or not, and are made from a variety of materials, both pliable and rigid. Pour spouts are usually adapted to couple with the necks of a variety of bottles such that a cylindrical body member is inserted into and coupled with the neck of the bottle in a manner that allows the protruding member or spout to protrude or extend from the cylindrical body member beyond the annular lip of the liquid-containing bottle. The cylindrical body member may be annular or single or plural-channeled to allow liquid to flow from the bottle through the cylindrical body member and into an external receiving vessel, such as a drinking glass.
Pour spouts facilitate smooth and even pouring of liquids, reduce or eliminate splashing, and provide the ability to control the velocity of the flow of liquid as it is being discharged through the pour spout.
One drawback of using pour spouts is that, unless the pour spout is able to be sealed or capped, the liquid in the bottle is left exposed to the environment, which commonly results in a number of problems, including oxidation, evaporation, insect infestation, and/or other contamination. Although pour spouts may be inserted and removed and the bottle recapped with its original cap after each use, this process in cumbersome and often impractical.
Further, even though many pour spouts provide sealing mechanisms, these mechanisms vary widely in their abilities to prevent oxidation, evaporation, insect infestation, and/or other contamination, and rarely provide the same measure of sealing ability as the original cap that came with the bottle or vessel.
Therefore, there has been a longstanding need for a pour spout that allows for the recapping of bottles with their original bottle caps, without necessitating the removal of the pour spout. The present invention provides a pour spout that facilitates the smooth and even pouring of liquids, reduces or eliminates splashing, and provides the ability to control the velocity of the flow of liquid as it is being discharged while suppressing dripping from the pour spout at the end of a pour, and is also is adapted to couple within the neck of a bottle without protruding from the annular lip of the bottle, enabling the bottle to be recapped with its original bottle cap without having to remove the pour spout.